Alternativa
LeaderPino Cabras
Founded23 February 2021
Split fromFive Star Movement
IdeologyPopulism
Euroscepticism
Political positionBig tent[1]
Colors  Orange
Chamber of Deputies[2]
0 / 400
Senate[2]
0 / 200
European Parliament
0 / 76
Regional Councils
0 / 897
Website
alternativa.it

Alternativa (English: Alternative, abbr. A or Alt) is a populist and Eurosceptic political party in Italy. It was established in February 2021 as a parliamentary sub-group of the Mixed Group named L'Alternativa c'è (English: There is an Alternative).[3] Its members are former deputies of the Five Star Movement who were expelled from the party for having voted against Mario Draghi's government.[4]

On 15 November 2021, Alternative became a full-fledged party and adopted its current name.[5][6] The party's three senators sat in the Constitution, Environment, Labour group.

History

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the Five Star Movement (M5S) asked its members to vote on the party's support to Mario Draghi's government. The party's members approved the online referendum with 59.3% of votes.[7] During the investiture votes in the Parliament on 17–18 February 2021 for the Draghi government, 15 senators and 16 deputies voted against the new cabinet, being immediately expelled by the M5S party's acting leader Vito Crimi.[8] On 23 February, 12 former deputies of the M5S re-organised themselves in a new sub-group within the Mixed Group, calling it L'Alternativa c'è.[9]

As for the Senate, it is required by the rules of the Senate that a new group must be associated with one party that elected at least one senator, even in a joint list. Ignazio Messina, the secretary of Italy of Values (IdV) who ran in the Popular Civic List back in 2018 general election, agreed to put its party symbol at the disposal of the new group.[10] The agreements failed after the legal attorney of IdV stated that there were no longer any political conditions for the disposal of the symbol at the Senate, meaning that they could instead be able to form a sub-group only within the Mixed Group.[11] In April 2022, a group named Constitution, Environment, Labour was eventually launched with the participation of senators from Alternative, IdV and the Communist Party, plus some non-party independents.[12]

In the 2022 local elections, Alternative's Mattia Crucioli ran for mayor in Genoa, where he was supported by other parties composing CAL, as well as other populist and Eurosceptic parties including Gianluigi Paragone's Italexit,[13] and obtained 3.7% of the vote.

In the run-up of the 2022 general election, Alternative briefly joined forces with Italexit,[14] while the Communist Party and Italy Again launched Sovereign and Popular Italy.[15] Alternative dissolved the alliance due to allegations about the presence of neo-fascist candidates within Italexit's lists.[16]

Ideology

According to their manifesto, the party is against public shares offering and privatizations, as they adhere to a doctrine of dirigisme and economic interventionism, supporting abolition or redrafting of the Maastricht criteria, the Stability and Growth Pact, and the European Fiscal Compact, rejecting the European Stability Mechanism, and opposing taking the loan part of the Next Generation EU quota. As for environmentalism, they claim to be the one closer to the original M5S manifesto and are in favour of green politics.[17][18]

Symbols

References

  1. ^ "Europe Elects – Italy". Europe Elects. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Squadra". Archived from the original on 2022-09-26. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  3. ^ Gli ex 5 stelle danno vita a "L'Alternativa c'è", nasce nuova componente in Parlamento, Huffington Post
  4. ^ Espulsi M5s: domani nasce "Alternativa c'è" alla Camera e al Senato, Gazzetta del Sud
  5. ^ Componenti del gruppo MISTO - Modifiche intervenute alle componenti politiche
  6. ^ **Parlamento: ex M5S lanciano 'Alternativa', 'impedire elezione Draghi al Quirinale'**
  7. ^ "Dal voto Cinquestelle via libera al governo Draghi con il 59,3%. Di Maio: "Il movimento prende la via europea". Fico: "Niente salti ne buio"". lastampa.it (in Italian). 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  8. ^ M5s, Crimi espelle i 15 senatori del No a Draghi. Grillo: “Perseveranza alla Camera, non siamo più marziani”. E rilancia: “Unità e patto verde unica strada”, Il Fatto Quotidiano
  9. ^ Nasce alla Camera e al Senato la componente del M5s 'Alternativa c'è', ANSA
  10. ^ "Messina: "Ho messo a disposizione il simbolo di Idv per Alternativa c'è"" (in Italian). Radio Cusano Campus. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  11. ^ "L'Idv non torna: negato il simbolo agli ex grillini" (in Italian). Quotidiano.net. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Senato.it - Senato della Repubblica senato.it - Variazioni dei Gruppi parlamentari".
  13. ^ "Comunali 2022, Paragone a Genova per sostenere Mattia Crucioli - Genova 24". 29 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Paragone imbarca anche Stefano Puzzer alle elezioni: Correrà con Italexit". 31 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Elezioni politiche 2022, c'è una galassia a sinistra del Pd: Ecco tutte le formazioni in corsa e le possibili alleanze". 28 July 2022.
  16. ^ Si spacca il fronte No Green pass, Alternativa di Cabras si allontana da ItalExit: «Ci sono candidati che fanno parte di gruppi di ispirazione neofascista», Open
  17. ^ "'L'alternativa c'è': il manifesto politico dell'opposizione a Draghi". www.lantidiplomatico.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Camera, ecco 'L'Alternativa c'è' dei dissidenti 5S. "Siamo la vera opposizione a Draghi". Di Battista: "Tornare per Conte? No grazie". Nuove espulsioni alla Camera". La Repubblica (in Italian). 2 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
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